Warning! This article contains minor spoilers for Daredevil: Born Again episode 4.
Daredevil: Born Againepisode 4 has me worried about the fate of Heather, Matt’s new girlfriend. Heather is one ofDaredevil: Born Again’s new characters, a therapist who is friends with Matt’s law firm partner, Kirsten.Daredevil: Born Againepisodes 1 and 2saw Kirsten trick Matt and Heather into going on a date, which quickly spiraled into a full relationship. However, Heather has ties to another significant member of the show that undoubtedly puts her in much more dangerous territory than Matt does.
The character in question is none other thanDaredevil: Born Again’s Mayor Wilson Fisk, the (former) Kingpin and arch-nemesis of the titular hero. Heather was hired to be a couples counselor for Wilson and his wife, Vanessa, who have been experiencing issues between the events of Netflix’sDaredevilandDaredevil: Born Again’s MCU timeline. After some big reveals inDaredevil: Born Againepisode 4, I am concerned that Heather’s connections to both Matt and Fisk could lead to her suffering a dark fate.
Daredevil: Born Again Episode 4 Reveals Kingpin Returning To His Violent Nature
Mayor Fisk’s Act Is Slowly Slipping
InDaredevil: Born Againepisode 4, the most overt hints yet were provided that Wilson Fisk’s currently benevolent act will not hold for much longer. Be it his struggles sitting through musical numbers performed by children as a mayor should or his final scene, Kingpin will return sooner rather than later. The final scene showcased Fisk holding a captive -Daredevil: Born Again’s Adam- after they had an affair with Vanessa while he was away from New York. This reveals thatKingpin’s darker side remains, as well as explaining why he had bloody knuckles in earlier episodes.
Daredevil: Born Again Episode 4 Recap & Ending Explained - Adam’s Identity Is Revealed
Daredevil: Born Again’s latest episode brings along major reveals for Wilson Fisk’s storyline, including who Adam is, and sees a major MCU return.
Where Heather is concerned, one scene further implies that Fisk’s more violent tendencies could return. Heather is shown asking Vanessa whether Fisk has ever been violent towards her. AlthoughDaredevilandDaredevil: Born Againhave indicated that Vanessa is one of the few people Fisk would not harm, Heather noticed that he has controlling and manipulative traits. These traits showing themselves, and Kingpin’s inhumane imprisonment of Adam, prove that the villain of Netflix’sDaredevilis closer to returning than I first thought.
The History Of This Trend Stretches Back Decades
Moving away fromDaredevil: Born Againspecifically, it is worth exploring how the wider superhero genre has me worried for Heather’s safety. Since superhero stories began as comics, there has been a bad habit of “fridging” female characters. The term fridging came from comic book author Gail Simone in the 1990s when Green Lantern Kyle Rayner found his girlfriend dead and stuffed into a refrigerator.Simone’s criticism was that women in superhero stories are often faced with death, maiming, assault, or other awful tragediesthat are used to further the story and character development of male characters.
Non-Marvel and DC comic book series' likeThe Boysimplemented a similar bad habit, as have other TV shows and movies outside of the superhero genre.
Since then, the term fridging has been used to apply to other female characters who fit this stereotype. Some modern examples include the likes of Rachel fromThe Dark Knight, Gwen Stacy inThe Amazing Spider-Man 2, Punisher’s wife and daughter in Netflix’sThe Punisherseries, and so on. Even moving away from death and assault, women are often still used as husks with little character themselves to further a male character’s development, from Pepper Potts inIron Man, MJ and Liz in theSpider-Man: Homecomingtrilogy, or Betty Ross inThe Incredible HulkandCaptain America: Brave New World.
Heather’s Death Would Further Matt & Kingpin’s Rivalry
Image via Disney+
By linking the concept of fridging to Heather’s connections to the characters ofDaredevil: Born Againand Kingpin’s resurgent violent tendencies,I am almost certain that she will meet a tragic end. After all, the show is naturally building up to the idea that Wilson Fisk will return to his Kingpin ways just as Matt will re-embrace his darker side as Daredevil. One way to solidify both of these character transitions beyond any doubt would be to have Kingpin kill Heather.
Heather knows a lot about Wilson and Vanessa. If Kingpin found out she was Matt’s girlfriend and his violent ways became more and more frequent, he could snap and assume that Heather was passing information about them to his old enemy. Given that this would seemingly put Vanessa in danger and violate the couple’s trust in Heather, Kingpin would likely not hesitate to kill her. This way, Kingpin’s dark tendencies would resurface and give Matt another reason for becoming the titular vigilante inDaredevil: Born Again, giving Heather the sad fate of being fridged to accommodate other characters.
